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A team of scientists from around the world thinks the Japanese eel should be listed as endangered species, as the number of Japanese eels is decreasing in East Asia.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, or IUCN, will discuss the matter at a meeting that will be held in Britain from July 1 to 5.

At the July meeting, the experts will examine 19 kinds of eels, including the Japanese eel, and discuss whether to designate each of them as an endangered species, according to Kyodo news.

Catches of parent Japanese eels have decreased by around 90 percent in Japan during the past three decades, while their populations in Taiwan and the Philippines are also declining.

The Japanese eel is most threatened by the deterioration in river habitats and by fishing, the documents report. These are the reasons that prompt expectations it will be listed as endangered species.

Currently, the European eel is listed at the top of the IUCN’s three-category endangered list as a species that is highly feared to become extinct in the near future, and is subject to trade control under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, commonly known as the Washington Convention.